


A Necessary End

by Bluebellstar



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Canon Era, For France, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluebellstar/pseuds/Bluebellstar
Summary: Another obligatory pre-S2 AU.Now that the 'truth' is out, Richelieu is no longer secure in his position or his life. Treville is informed by Jussac of the King's indirect involvement in the events of episode 9, but is it too late to change the path they have been set on?Not exactly as summary, but I'm not brilliant at them.
Relationships: Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu/de Tréville (Trois Mousquetaires)
Kudos: 22





	A Necessary End

**Author's Note:**

> It's 4:40 am here! And instead of sleeping I finally cracked through some of my writers block.
> 
> Written all in one go, and as an exercise in removing said block, so apologies if this is awful.
> 
> And, I wasn't really sure how to tag this one. If I missed something, please tell me and I'll get it sorted.

Treville could hardly believe it. After twenty years fighting by each other's sides, it was Jussac, Jussac who told him, who gave him the courtesy of the truth. Richelieu's private parlour (more of a library and office than a parlour) was almost too empty. No books lined the shelves, crates instead covered some of the floor. Treville noted this, but paid it no need. He was a man on a mission, and he had his Gascon temper and stubbornness to back him up.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Emotions burned hot under his skin; rage, betrayal, pain - a seething morass he was too furious to unravel. And yet, despite his fury, Richelieu still stood there. Tall and proud, his hands clasped before him as he had so many times before. He was calm, resolute. This wasn't just His Eminence, the Cardindal Richelieu, oh no, this was Armand with his mind made up. Still, the look he shot Jussac as the man took his leave would have smote a lesser man.  
"And implicate you my treason? No, Captain-" Treville's fist slammed onto the table, making Richelieu's tea service rattle.  
"Armand, I deserved the truth!"  
"You deserve not to be executed for treason!" Richelieu snapped, briefly losing his composure. That was fatal, as it always was for him. Treville saw him in that second, saw what Richelieu would never admit.  
"You didn't think it would get that far?" Resistance flared in Richelieu's eyes, hard and stubborn, but it faded away as Armand surrendered to the inevitable. He sank onto the chaise across from Treville, fine tremors shaking his elegant hands.  
"Milady wasn't supposed to choose the assassins so well. I only wanted to scare the King into regretting his outburst. But with Gallagher involved" Armand shook his head, helpless. "The situation grew beyond my control. I wanted to tell you, but by that stage knowing that His Majesty had indirectly ordered as I had, it would have caused more harm than good. Especially when your men, when the Queen, needed you, and needed you present without worrying about what saving her would mean for me."  
"You could tell her, Her Majesty would understand as she does not now." And there it was, the flash of pity. Treville was clutching at straws here and they both knew it. But there was nothing else he could do. He would not sit idly by and let Armand sacrifice himself when his treason was not even that!  
"It would do France no good to cause a rift between the King and Queen, Jean" Armand reminded him softly, a kind of resignation settling into his eyes. "The Queen will bear a son, France will have an heir. My work here is done." Armand offered a brave twitch of his lips, as if the next words he said weren't going to tear Jean's heart out. "I overplayed my hand. It is time for me to die."  
_____________

It could have been an hour or a moment that Jean sat there, staring in mute horror at Armand. He couldn't even begin to process this. Surely Armand - a Roman Catholic Cardinal, for all that was holy - could not, would not ever entertain ending his own life. Armand knelt before him, hand hovering over his own. He smiled, trying for a levity Jean didn't appreciate. "Come now, my dear, make your peace with it as I already have."  
"Armand, you can't die. France needs you." I need you. It was unspoken, but it hung between them all the same.  
"I'm not dying Jean, I'm leaving under assumption of death" Armand clarified, as if that wasn't enough of a death for Jean to deal with. He didn't want to lose Armand, damnit, not after only just getting him back. Dry lips pressed to his cheek, wordless understanding passing between them. "I am, as I have always been, my country's servant. France no longer has a use for me." Jeans throat worked, forcing down the lump that had lodged there. His mind raced, desperately trying to find words - the right words to convince Armand to stay. Jean was just a soldier, it was Armand who was the natural strategist. If Armand was leaving now, there truly could be no scenario in which his staying would be good for France. Jean would have to surrender. He briefly, furiously hated Armand for it.  
____________

"Where will you go?" Armand favoured him with one of his rare elegant shrugs. Either he didn't yet know himself, or he had no intentions of telling Jean. Knowing Armand, they were both probably true.  
"Somewhere quiet, somewhere safe. Nowhere of any value or import. I think I may even make my brother Alphonse look positively outgoing by comparison."  
"This is not funny, Armand" Jean growled, reaching for the safety of being angry with him. Angry he knew what to deal with. Helpless and he was useless.  
"I'm not making light of this, Mon Chevalier" Armand breathed, Jean's own misery reflected in his eyes. "I am doing what I must. You know I cannot bear to see you hurt." There was no reply to that, not when Armand had derailed his anger so spectacularly. Armand stood in a swirl of crimson velvet, still as magnificent as ever, even in defeat. He pressed their lips together for a beat, then pulled away, donning the mask of Richelieu once again.  
"Look after France for me, Captain." Jean could have left it there, but how could he? Armand had just given him hope. France. For France, anything could happen. Even the reversal of this idiotic scheme.  
"And what if France has need of you again?" Unspoken, but present nonetheless, a quiet plea: what if I have need of you again? Armand smiled sadly but took those few (far too far) steps back to him.  
"Follow your heart, my dear, I'll be there at the end of your path."  
_____________

Treville had never been a coward in his life, and he wouldn't break now. Not even as it cost him all he had to watch uselessly, helplessly, as Armand walked out that door, taking both their hearts with him.  
"Armand." Richelieu paused by the door, the smile only meant for Treville on his face. His eyes were as unguarded as they had only been in their most private moments, soft and warm and immeasurably sad. A final glimpse of his Armand to sustain him until they met again.  
"I know, Jean, as do you." That should have been the last words Jean heard from him, but Armand was nothing if not professional. Everything had to be done according to the Richelieu standard. Even his own funeral. "No flowers, Captain. Not for this."

And then there was nothing but silence, and the weight of Jean's failure settling heavy on his chest. Tomorrow, Treville would have to stand and listen to the King mourn the loss of another father, listen to his men rejoice and gloat at the death of an enemy. Tonight, though, Jean would go back to his lonely bed in the Garrison, and he would drink away his pain in brandy. Tonight, he would mourn the loss of a clandestine future with the only one he had ever loved. It would dawn on him later that he had not even got the chance to kiss Armand goodbye, not properly. That was an oversight that he would remedy when they met again. And they would, Jean intended to ensure that they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
